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1359
As magic faltered, mechanics and mundane medicine surged The world of [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/1359_DR '''1359']' '''felt like it was going to hell in a hand basket… The gods weren’t answering prayers and magic was unstable. Not that people stopped trying with either, those were staples of the world… that suddenly weren’t there or weren’t doing what they were supposed to do. Badur’s Gate was an island of resilience, skating between the worst that was wreaking havoc around Toril. For the casters reliant on the Stonehearth Merchant Company, it felt as if magic was less unstable. Many thoughts were that it had something to do with the Stonehearth approach to everything, including magic itself. Now, as work needed to get done, the mechanics of Stonehearth were picking up slack for the magic… Full Steam Ahead Cooling Off to Heat Up The Stonehearth College (and the SMC supporting it) were concerned about wasting the heat. They estimated that 80% of the steam used by the steam engine was wasted. Instead of providing motive force, it was instead being used to heat the cylinder. In the SC design, every power stroke was started with a spray of cold water, which not only condensed the steam, but also cooled the walls of the cylinder. This heat had to be replaced before the cylinder would accept steam again. In the Gnomcomen engine, now proven, 16 year-old technology, the heat was supplied only by the steam, so when the steam valve was opened again the vast majority condensed on the cold walls as soon as it was admitted to the cylinder. It took a considerable amount of time and steam before the cylinder warmed back up and the steam started to fill it up. This led the specialists to develop the concept of latent heat. Using those principles, they solved the pre-cooling problem of the water spray by removing the cold water to a different cylinder, placing it beside the power cylinder. Once the induction stroke was complete a valve was opened between the two, and any steam that entered the cylinder would condense inside this cold cylinder. This would create a vacuum that would pull more of the steam into the cylinder, and so on until the steam was mostly condensed. The valve was then closed, and operation of the main cylinder continued as it would on a conventional Gnomcomen engine. As the power cylinder remained at operational temperature throughout, the system was ready for another stroke as soon as the piston was pulled back to the top. Maintaining the temperature was a jacket around the cylinder where steam was admitted. Stonehearth Engineering College not Resting on Their Laurels After 16 years, improving one part opened the floodgates to make changes all over. The SC further improved the system by adding a small vacuum pump to pull the steam out of the cylinder into the condenser, further improving cycle times. A more radical change from their original design was closing off the top of the cylinder and introducing low pressure steam above the piston. Now the power was not due to the difference of atmospheric pressure and the vacuum, but the pressure of the steam and the vacuum, a somewhat higher value. On the upward return stroke, the steam on top was transferred through a pipe to the underside of the piston ready to be condensed for the downward stroke. Sealing of the piston on a Gnomcomen engine had been achieved by maintaining a small quantity of water on its upper side. This was no longer possible, so they spent considerable effort to find a seal that worked, eventually obtained by using a mixture of tallow and oil. The piston rod also passed through a gland on the top cylinder cover sealed in a similar way. The piston sealing problem was due to having no way to produce a sufficiently round cylinder. They tried having cylinders bored from cast iron, but they were too out of round. Cast steel was an option, but it was still too expensive for general industry. They were forced to use a hammered iron cylinder. What they ended with that year was a machine of extraordinary complexity and precision. The Engine was both powerful and realistically affordable to industry – and was ready for sales. There were sales of the complete engine, but even more, there were portions of the engine that could be adapted onto existing engines to greatly improve power and fuel efficiency. Stonehearth Medical College founded The discovery of the “World Microscopic” was still rocking Baldur’s Gate… With the invention of the microscope, the SC had essentially discovered the Germ Theory of Disease and Baldur's Gate now led the discussion of advanced medicine of the age. In Stonehearth zones, science even dictated policy, the sanitation measures they'd enacted already having a beneficial effect. For as important as it was, given the previous reliance on the power of divine healing, there was no school dedicated to mundane medicine. True to the Stonehearth method, they founded the Stonehearth Medical College. There was already an "SMC" so this was often referred to as SMC2. SMC2 was a subdivision of, and governed by, the rules and culture of the general college, and used the systems and processes therein. This actually favored the Hippocratic experience: categorizing illnesses as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic, and using terms such as, "exacerbation, relapse, resolution, crisis, paroxysm, peak, and convalescence," were absolutely in line the kind of organization the Stonehearth College expected. The SMC2 was credited with being the first to believe that many if not most diseases were caused naturally, not because of superstition and gods. They compiled evidence that most disease was not a punishment inflicted by the gods but rather the product of environmental factors, diet, and living habits. By the same token, after the SC's Germ Theory, the SMC didn't fully subscribe to the common convictions on Humorism (and many of the long-held assumptions on anatomy and physiology were quickly proven wrong). The SMC2 doctors swore by the non-maleficence maxim as expressed in Stonehearth's newish high common: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primum_non_nocere Primum non nocere]'' (which translated to "first, do no harm"). One of the initial debates was on quantifying the nature of medical ethics itself, and whether non-maleficence was their zenith, or whether they should aspire to beneficence. They immediately dove into clinical work, such as dissection and autopsies. For a group that was the opposite of necromancers, it was unsurprising that they were now forced to study the same material. Within a year, they published treatises and tomes anatomy. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmacopoeia '''Pharmacopoeia']' and Apothecaries' Up to this point, there wasn't a great deal of homegrown mundane knowledge, though there was extensive divine research. The SMC was not afraid to dip into it, translate it, experiment with it and finally utilize it if effective. There was an obvious level of crossover with the medicine itself, but this was dealing not just with the assessment but rather the cure or relief of symptoms. The term "apothecary" was not yet coined in Toril, but the SMC2 made it a reality. Their focus was a subdivision of medicine: the identification and analysis of potential drugs, and they helped blaze trails into botany and chemistry. Likewise, the pharmacopoeia was a further subdivision, focused on the process of creating and administering the drugs. Much of this looped back to the arcane methodology of creating potions of healing, and in fact, that magical control accelerated the mundane research. This led to a new market for analgesics, anesthetics and even recreationals. This industry exploded so fast, so big, that the Baldur's Gate Council felt compelled to tax it. As Stonehearth consented, it only cemented the funding power that Stonehearth had over the city. With the magic and industry of Stonehearth, the Gate was without economic equal in Faerûn... Vorthryn’s Archivir reenters circulation Just as the gods were suffering major issues, Azuth was using his non-divine arcane prowess to drum up follower support in these uncertain times. Vorthryn's Archivir was taken from its resting place and found its way into the hands of an untold number of adventurers. From Neverwinter to Zazesspur and Athkatla to Alaghôn, the book is incredibly useful to those who wield it and it serves to convert many to Azuth's faith. Category:Hall of Records Category:Timeline